Slayers: Warped
by nayru moon
Summary: The Slayers gang has a new task forced upon them, involving five mysterious kids, a shadowy madman, and an evil overlord. Chapter 7 is (finally) up!
1. Introduction: Xelloss' Mission

SLAYERS: WARPED  
or  
BATTLE FOR THE FUTURE  
  
Nayru: Here is my Slayers opus. I've been told by my peers that it's worthy of a doushinji. I don't know. I think I'd just like to put it here and see what everybody thinks.  
  
Xiao: Hey, even I liked it.  
  
DISCLAIMER: The Slayers characters aren't mine. Rei, Elijah, Kinsei, and Alin ARE mine.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
Introduction: Xelloss' Mission  
  
The year in Earth time is 2003. A lone figure sits on a school roof. He'd put down a cell phone five minutes ago. The conversation he had went as follows: "There is a bomb in the school. I'm going to detonate it in five minutes and thirty seconds. I suggest you run."  
"Who is this?! Who's calling?!"  
"Bye!"  
Xelloss watched pandemonium unfold as the school was evacuated. "For all the bad I've done, I'm still pinned with the task of finding four wayward children who are supposed to be on the side of good. Why did Zelas give me this task? Oh, wait, that's right... "  
  
Two nights before, Zelas had called Xelloss to her.  
"Xelloss, I've recieved a message from seven years in the future." She spoke calmly.  
"That's wonderful. Did it tell you to quit smoking?" Xelloss was peeved that she'd interrupted his dinner with the Slayers; rather, stealing dinner from the Slayers.  
"No, you idiot." Zelas pursed her lips. "It seems someone has decided to interefere with the way time and lives are supposed to progress. And you are involved."  
"Really. How nice." Xelloss rolled his eyes. He wanted to go back to torturing Lina and Gourry, poking holes in various sexual protection products owned by Zangulus and Martina, dulling the spikes on Mace-sama, and being all around evil and slowing his 'friends' journey to "wherever the road leads them". "What does this have to do with me?"  
"Well, apparently, it's about you and those 'Slayers'. It seems that they're being attacked by an evil overlord who has come from the future to this time era. Your future self sent the message. It seems that all of you except for 'Zelgadis' die."  
"How terrible." Translation: I don't care.  
"I have one question before I continue: HOW DO YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH A GOLDEN DRAGON?!" Xelloss jumped.  
"But, Zelas, I-"  
"No ifs ands or buts. It seems that in the future, the Slayers marry, settle, and procreate. YOU procreate with a Golden Dragon... name of... FILIA." Zelas glared at Xelloss. "All matters aside. Read the message. I want you headed for the Earth in the year of 2003 to retrieve the four children who were sent there when their parents were brutally murdered or, in the case of the Golden Dragon, shipped to a different dimension. Your guidelines from your future self are there. I want you to change ONE thing: DO NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH THE GOLDEN DRAGON. Everything you need to know,is there. As assistant will join you when you reenter this era."  
"Fine by me!" Xelloss continued smiling. He hadn't flinched as his deepest, darkest secret was revealed. He simply bounced away to read the rest of the message.  
  
Xelloss scanned the crowd, looking at the message again. "Red hair, bright red hair, the youngest had red hair." He noticed a group of four set off from the rest of the children. A shock of bright red seemed to glow from it. There was a slightly duller red color of hair as well, like a mix between purple and gold, along with dark blue and dark green. "Bingo." He ran along the buildings to get closer. The group was pulled close together. The redhead was smallest, about 5 feet tall. The only boy was tallest, almost 5 and a half. The green haired girl was only a little shorter than him, while the last girl, with maroon hair, was only a little over 5 feet. All of them wore school uniforms with jackets over them. The smallest girl was enclosed in the boy's jacket, while the other two simply stood close together. They were in quiet conversation. "Oh, this is definitely them. Odd, that they all band together." He looked at the message again. "What's this...? A fifth...? Oh, the assistant, right... I'll have to examine that later." He looked carefully at the maroon haired one. "Kinsei Zelas- tch, who'd name her that?- Ul-Copt Metallium, approximate age sixteen. Wow, she does look a lot like Filia. Checks out." He examined the boy. "Alionel 'Alin' Marik Wil Tesla etcetera jesus christ that's a long name Del Sailune Greywords, approximate age fifteen, identical to Zelgadis... Elijah Yugian etcetera I hate royal people Del Xoana, age seventeen, got her, she looks like MARTINA, that can't be good, Rei Lyssa Inverse-Gabriev, age 14, got her, no question that she's Lina's, that's all fo- what the...?" At that point, a bright flash of light had come through the sky, which could only mean one thing.  
  
Down in the school courtyard minutes before, Elijah, Kinsei, Alin, and Rei were standing in their usual set off group. Elijah was bored, Kinsei was nervous, Alin was serene, and Rei was very cold. Alin kissed Rei's forehead. "I wonder if that bomb threat is real today." He remarked quietly, for the sake of some sound in the silence of panic.  
"Ch." Elijah snorted.  
"Well, Elijah, you never know." Kinsei giggled. "They say the voice sounded like that of an American voice actor, David Moo." Rei giggled too.  
"Torture to the ears." Rei suddenly shivered violently. "Brrr..."  
"Rei, don't get frustrated. It's not that cold. Last time you got angry, you get sent to the office for starting to say some weird hob-gob spell that probably wouldn't have worked." Elijah laughed.  
"I AM calm, Elijah!" Rei growled.  
"You forgot the time she set the science lab on fire."  
"Who could forget the time Elijah started ranting about some made-up god and how it would take its vengeance on the teachers? You got suspended for a week!" Rei cried.  
"Calm down, there's a lot of funny stuff about us four, why compare experiences?" Alin murmured. "I've got bleeding rocks all over my face, for christ's sake, and you think a few supernatural occurences about yourselves is weird." Just then, Rei started visibly shivering. Her skin has goosebumps, and she grew paler. Her eyes slightly glassed.  
"It's happening again."  
"What, the tingle feeling?" Elijah perked. The 'tingle feeling' was the one supernatural occurence the group conformed by. Every time she got it, the other three would get on their guard for anything. The 'tingle feeling' meant immediate danger. They had decided to believe in it the second time it came- she'd woken up in the middle of the night with it and saved them from a fire that was started a minute later. Rei sometimes ignored it, but one of them would trip or something petty a minute later. Elijah suddenly began to shiver too. Elijah only felt this sensation in a case of extreme danger. "We should move, take cover, something."  
"Elijah, it's too late." Rei's eyes grew wider. "We can't protect ourselves from this danger." Just then, the grey sky lit up with what seemed like a burst of thunder.  
  
A gentleman in a solid canvas cloak and hood leapt out of the light burst, sword in hand. He leapt into the group of orphans. His eyes focused on the littlest one, with the bright red hair. "You..." He grabbed her by her jacket. Rei's eyes suddenly turned red. The group froze in fear as Rei struggled to get out of his grasp.  
"DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN!" She was speaking in a voice that was not hers. It was a slightly lower voice, a more mature one. "HE'S GOT HIS FACTS WRONG, YOU HAVE TO FIND SOME WAY TO STOP HIM! STOP HIM BEFORE HE DOES TOO MUCH DAMAGE!"  
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! LINA, SHUT UP!" The older man hit Rei.  
"SOMEONE IS WAITING FOR YOU, HE'S COMING FOR YOU, XELLOSS! XELLOSS! DO SOMETHING!" Rei had turned to stare at a figure on the roof. Xelloss panicked.  
"My, my, this was unexpected!" His smile faded, and he jumped off the roof, and started playing tug-of-war with Rei.  
After a few seconds of the two tugging on both arms, Lina's voice cried nervously, "This is pointless, Xelloss, give in. Get the other three to the future. I will save this girl myself." Xelloss let go. Rei's eyes flashed back to blue.  
"What the-" At that second, the cloaked man leapt into midair. There was another huge burst of light. Rei screamed as she vanished.  
Xelloss watched in horror as he lost Lina again.  
  
Alin was staring at the ground, shuddering.  
"Alin-"  
"Alin-"  
"Don't TALK to me." He growled. The remaining strange person smacked Alin upside the head. "OW! What the fu-"  
"Can it." He sighed, and began to smile. "I know your names."  
"Well, that gives you the advantage, doesn't it?" Elijah quipped.  
"You remind me of your father." Elijah's scowl faded.  
"You know my father?"  
"I know all of your fathers. Not to mention your mothers. And most of your relatives."  
"They're alive?" Alin frowned.  
"No, goodness know, all but two are dead."  
"Which are alive?"  
"Why Alin, I'm surprised you don't recognize your own father! He just vanished." Alin's eyes widened. "And also, Kinsei's father is alive." Xelloss smiled. "It's me! Sort of."  
"What?" Kinsei blinked. "You... you're..."  
"I'm from about twenty-one years in the past. I'm not in a relationship with your mother in my time. It'll be a few more years. But I /will be/ your father." Kinsei's eyes filled with tears, and she hugged him. Xelloss was surprised. "Just like your mother..." He smiled bigger, patting her on the back. "There, there. Look, I'll explain this all later. We have no time to spare if we're going to save Rei. Everyone, come a little closer to me, I'll explain this when we get there! We're going on a little time travel!"  
"I have to go to the bathroom already!" Elijah growled sarcastically. Xelloss murmured a quick spell, and there was another light burst, as the three children were transported into the past before they were born. ____________________________________________________________________________  
  
The Earth year is 1981, but we're not on Earth anymore. Gourry Gabriev snaps awake in the Inn he and his friends are staying in. Frowning in a confused way, he scratched his head and tried to remember the details of his dream, trying to make heads or tails of it. The most he could remember was four kids, one getting kidnapped, and a few big bursts of light. He scratched his head again, as if it'd help.  
"Huh." Lina burst into the room.  
"Wake up Gourry! Oh! Hey! You're awake!" Lina grinned.  
"Yeah." Gourry replied.  
"Get dressed, I wanna get moving by nine!"  
"Hey, Lina... "  
"Yeah?"  
"Do you know anyone named Rei?"  
"No, afraid not! Why?"  
"Never mind." Gourry smiled, and leapt out of bed.  
"I've got this funny feeling today, Gourry. I think something big is coming."  
"How big, Lina?"  
Lina paused, and grinned widely. "HUGE!" ____________________________________________________________________________  
  
Nayru: Please review! 


	2. Never Be The Same Again

SLAYERS: WARPED  
  
Nayru: Okay, so I wasn't recieved very well. Meh, I'll get more readers.  
  
Ran-Ran: We're sure you'll love it eventually!  
  
DISCLAIMER: The Slayers aren't mine. Rei, Alin, Kinsei, and Elijah are mine.  
  
Chapter 1: Never Be The Same Again  
  
It was late at night. All there was in the dark was a single stream of moonlight through the broken window and the darkness itself. The only sound was that of a girl catching her breath. The white light streamed onto a pair of chains hung from the ceiling, ending seven feet above the ground binding and hanging Rei by her wrists, and her ankles were tied to the floor, giving her no chance of escape. Rei didn't know how long she'd been asleep, but she'd just woken from a terrible nightmare hanging in midair. Rei mentally panicked. Her clothes were gone, changed into something that wasn't hers, and she had no idea where she was.  
"This is a familiar scene." Came a very cold voice from nowhere. A lantern went on in the corner where Rei was facing. The figure in a canvas cloak stood, leaned against the wall as if he'd been waiting for her to wake up. He had. Rei shrieked. "Shut up. Nobody can hear you anyway." He continued, in his detached voice. He slowly removed his cloak, revealing light peach skin patched with pink scars in some places, wide, staring amber eyes, and wiry honey brown hair. Rei frowned.  
"You look like Alin. A little. Cept his skin is blue, with purple marks. And his hair is blue. But if your hair were blue, and your skin, you'd- HEY!" The man had smacked her lightly.  
"And you look like your mother when I first met her. My name is Zelgadis. It's a pleasure to finally be meeting you," He paused between each word, as if each one disgusted him as it rolled off his tongue. "Rei. Lyssa. Inverse. Gabriev."  
"That's not my name, take me home!"  
"I have my ways. But it's expected you wouldn't even know your name. Why, you were only a few days old when your parents died." Rei's eyes widened.  
"You... it was you that killed my parents!" Rei thrashed against her holds. "Bastard! Let me go!" She was infuriated.  
"Shut up now. I'm not afraid to hurt you."  
"You're a murderer! You probably killed all my friends' parents too! HATEFUL, WORTHLESS, DISGUSTING-"  
  
Throughout the town, a terrible female shriek echoed. Young Zelgadis Greywords, laying awake at an inn in the middle of the town, looked out the window. "What the hell was that?"  
  
"You don't know what you're talking about." The lantern light reflected across Zelgadis' scars. He looked very dangerous. Rei's cheek was raw and bleeding. Zelgadis tossed a heavily spiked gauntlet aside. "Girl, girl, stupid girl. It's your own fault your parents are dead. My wife is dead. My best friends are dead, and the only living one has gone insane. My son and my friends' daughters-" Rei mouthed "Elijah and Kinsei" "-are all far away from me. I have lost all I held near and dear to my heart because of YOU. If YOU had never come into existence, everyone but you would be alive and happy! Lina Inverse wasn't meant to have a child! EVERYTHING I KNEW WAS LOST IN AN INSTANT AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"  
Rei started shaking. "I didn't kill anyone... if I did, it was unintentional... I'm innocent!"  
Zelgadis' voice went from enraged and hateful to insane and euphoric. "No matter what you say, you won't escape this time. Your mommy and daddy aren't going to rescue you this time, because they're dead. Dead, dead, dead. Death will take you too, but you won't die yet, oh no, not just yet. You and I together are going to prevent your existance. That will solve our little problem of you." He began to laugh. It was like no laugh anyone had heard before in their life. It was the laugh of a madman, the laugh of someone whose life had been thrown away, mirthless and hateful. Rei began to cry. She had never been more afraid in her life.  
  
Down in the town, Zel and Amelia were both standing at the window. Zel stared around as he heard the laughter, and focused on a broken down cathedral about 6 hundred yards away, on the ledge of a cliff. "Hear that, Amelia?"  
"Yeah, but what is it?"  
"Sounds like there's a madman in there, or spooks." He picked up his sword. "We should check it out."  
"Mr. Zelgadis, it's the middle of the night! Besides, if it's spooks, there's not much you can do. You'd need Lina to perform an exorcism, and you know what happens when you interrupt her sleep. Just drop it, and we'll check it out in the morning." That's when they heard the crying start. "Then again... I can't help but worry. That sounds like a little girl, and if it is a little girl..."  
"It's spooks. A madman would have lights on. There's little more than one lantern, and that might just be the reflection of the moonlight. Go back to bed, Amelia." The 17 year old princess pouted at the 23 year old chimera. "Don't make that face; it makes you look like a little girl. In fact, you are a little girl." He patted her cheek affectionately. "Go back to bed."  
"Oh, Mr. Zelgadis!" Amelia giggled, flustered. "Alright. Good night." She left the room. Zelgadis stared in silence as the lights in the church went off.  
  
The next afternoon, Xelloss burst into the church with a flash of light. The three teenagers, Elijah, Kinsei, and Alin, stood behind him. They were confused. It was bright. Xelloss took a bag out of nowhere and began to toss clothes at them. "That purple dress and white cloak are yours, Kinsei. So is this skirt thingy, and this other stuff..." Xelloss tossed various things over his shoulder out of the seemingly fathomless bag. Within minutes, Kinsei looked like a miniature Filia. He continued to dig, this time tossing at Elijah. "This bra thing, these almost see through slacks, these knee boots, and a cape... yours, Elijah." Elijah looked almost like Martina. This time, clothes were flying at Alin. "A pair of khakis, a simple white shirt, a pair of boots, and a pair of gauntlets... that oughta make you look like a chimera." He surveyed the teenagers, who had quietly cooperated, and grinned. "Not yet. You don't look ready yet." As Xelloss dug out another bag, some other clothes were tossed out of the first. There was a blue shirt, lined with white, blue slacks, white overarmor that should be underwear, a pair of black boots, and a black headband.  
"That's for Rei, isn't it?" Xelloss nodded. Elijah frowned. "Mr. Xelloss, where is she?"  
"I don't know, Elijah. We'll find her, though." Alin stared at the ceiling, at the chains.  
"Hey, Mr. Xelloss, what's this?" Xelloss looked up.  
"Oh my." Xelloss' smile flickered. "You three, check every room for signs of human habitation. Anything that shows that someone lived here recently." The trio ran off, as Xelloss continued to dig in the bag.  
Alin ran into a makeshift bedroom. "Geez, he's not making this hard." The room had clothes and health care items strewn everywhere. Alin grabbed a full wallet. "Whoever was here was in a rush to leave and forgot all their stuff."  
Elijah entered a privy chamber. "Ugh!" Vomit covered the floor, and a soiled pair of underwear lay in the corner. "No question, whoever was here was sick and dirty, an alcoholic maybe!"  
Kinsei found a storage chamber, and screamed. Elijah and Alin found her. She pointed at what she saw. "Whoever was here had Rei with them!" Rei's torn school outfit was on the floor. It was covered in blood. Kinsei grabbed the outfit. The trio entered the main chamber. Kinsei lay the uniform in front of Xelloss. Xelloss continued smiling.  
"Just as I suspected. We came a few hours too late." Alin scowled.  
"How can you keep smiling?"  
"Because I know that in the end, all will be well!" Xelloss lay several items from the second bag before them. "Elijah, this set of shoulder armor and the crown of Xoana; these are yours. I could find nothing of your father's. Kinsei, your mother's crown and this amulet of mine; these are yours. Alin, this hooded cloak which was your father's and your mother's lucky rabbit's foot-" Elijah and Kinsei snorted-" it really is lucky! These are yours. The remaining artifacts, a set of talismans that I sold to Lina, and Gourry Gabriev's sword hilt... those were meant for Rei." The three teens took what belonged to them, and began to equip themselves. Xelloss began to put Elijah's dark green hair in pigtails.  
"I suppose you all wonder what all of this means, right?" They all nodded. "Of course. You would. Well, let me explain where you are and why you're here. You three are in the country of your birth, on the planet of your birth, far from Earth. Your parents are extremely famous. They're collectively known as the Slayers, with the exception of myself, and Zangulus. Martina technically is not, but she follows Lina all the time anyway. so she's included. In about, let's see... " Xelloss thought hard. "Zel is 23, 5 years, then two years earlier, yes... Three years time, Martina will concieve Elijah. She'll be born, but in the meantime, Filia and myself marry and have Kinsei a few months after that, then comes Alin in 5 years, then Rei in about 6. So, in 6 years, while you are all extremely young, under four, something terrible happens. An evil overlord, a mere boy, but given horrible powers, devises a plan to absorb Lina Inverse's power; by drinking her blood. He fails miserably three times. On his last try, he burns your home, the Castle Sailune, which Alin is heir to. That terrible night, all of your parents, except Alin's father, were in the castle. Fortunately, my adult self, in 6 years, manages to rescue your four children as infants. Unfortunately, all of your parents, including my wife, Kinsei's mother, perish in the flames. The overlord had Lina cornered, she could have survived, but she chose not to let him win. Too much pride in her, she wouldn't give in. My future self was the only one left. An old friend, Syphiel, helped me gather what you see before you. She asked me a favor in return; she wanted a child herself. She did have one, who will meet you in the next town. Her name is Chocolate, true to her name, she has chocolate brown hair and loves chocolate. That's beside the point. When Zelgadis returned to what used to be Sailune City, he was greeted by his wife's grave. His mind was twisting, and he was searching for a reason why. He looked on the memorial stone to the five escapees- us- and saw one unfamiliar name. His mind twisted, turning everything he knew upside down. I don't know what he thought, but it gave him the insane idea that the fire was Rei's fault. He vowed revenge on her. After hearing a few twisted versions of the story, saying that Lina would have been able to save them all if she hadn't had Rei- which was partially true, as Lina would have been able to use magic if she hadn't given birth four days before- his suspicions were set in his twisted little head. Now he's captured Rei, and what he wants to do, I don't know. But I do know this: the evil overlord who wanted to drink Lina's blood is in this era now, and he's out for Rei's blood. That overlord will be born in a year; we have to stop the cycle of death before it starts by eliminating his powers, eliminating him. We need to enlist the help of the Slayers!" For ten seconds, the world seemed to freeze, as they were silently trying to absorb it all. Slowly, the teenagers all nodded, comprehending what Xelloss had just run off.  
"For our friends..." Elijah whispered.  
"For the future..." Kinsei continued, in a hushed tone.  
"For justice and for the world... it's up to us!" Alin finished, his voice gradually growing louder. The trio leapt to their feet. "Which way is it, Xelloss?" Xelloss smiled wider than before, and pointed.  
"The Slayers left in that direction! Run, and you might catch up with them in a few hours!" The teenagers ran, with their cloaks and capes flying out behind them.  
"Thank you, Xelloss!" Elijah and Alin called back.  
"Thank you, father, goodbye!!" Kinsei cried. Xelloss smiled and waved. If he hadn't been smiling, he would have been crying tears of joy.  
"Father." He repeated the word. "That word has never meant anything until now, and it's never felt better to say it." He teleported away, to catch up with the Slayers.  
  
Lina looked behind them. Three figures were following them. "Gourry, we're being watched." Xelloss, hovering a few feet behind Lina, grinned wider than he usually did.  
Gourry looked back. His mind gave a flash to the dream he'd had the night before. He "thought", or stared into space, briefly. "Let them come. They're probably just headed the same path as us."  
"You're right, they're not following us. They're just headed to this town. I'm too paranoid, sometimes."  
"You're not a parachutist!" Gourry cried.  
"Don't worry about it, stupid." The Slayers walked on, as Alin, Kinsei, and Elijah followed.  
  
To Be Continued  
  
Nayru: Shibbyness!  
  
Xiao: Please review, everyone! 


	3. That's Not Justice!

SLAYERS WARPED  
  
Nayru: Without further ado, here is chapter three!  
  
Disclaimer: The Slayers people aren't mine. Kinsei, Alin, and Elijah are mine. Chocolate is mine.  
  
Chapter 2: Sore Wa JUSTICE Ja Nai!  
  
On top of a gate post, a 10 year old girl sat. The post was fifteen feet high, and she was four feet tall, and the post wasn't meant for climbing, so only L-sama knows how she got up there. She had wavy brown hair the color of chocolate that reached her shoulders. She was eating a chocolate cupcake, wearing the biggest smile imaginable. The Slayers gang, except Xelloss, ignored her. Xelloss stopped, and waved. The girl waved back entusiastically. "Hi, hi, hi!"  
"Hey there, little one!" Xelloss called. Lina stopped.  
"Xelloss, what are you doing and why are you following us?"  
"Sore wa himitsu desu! Sore wa himitsu desu!" Xelloss grinned even more. Lina blinked; the girl and Xelloss had the exact same smile.  
"Chocolate is here like she was told to! Chocolate knows where Lina and her party should go! Chocolate knows a very good inn with great food at a low price! They even gave little Chocolate a cupcake!"  
"Chocolate should refer to herself in the first person." Zelgadis rolled his eyes.  
"Hidoi!" Chocolate stuck her tongue out at Zelgadis. "It's got the symbol of a clock on the sign, you can't miss it. It's quiet, but you get a lot of weird people. This one guy came by asking for you, Lina Inverse!" Lina frowned. "He left though. Go on, they have the BEST cupcakes!" Lina thought a moment.  
"Good, cheap food... okay, we'll go to that clock place for dinner!" The Slayers walked off. Xelloss winked at Chocolate, and followed them.  
  
After about half a hour, Elijah, Kinsei, and Alin caught up. Alin wiped sweat from his forehead.  
"That's injust!" He grumbled. "They run faster than we do!"  
"Well, we're not built for this. They've been doing that all their lives, this is our first day." Elijah flicked a soaking wet strand of hair behind her ear. "We'll get stronger if we keep it up."  
"Yeah..." was all Kinsei could manage as she tried to rest her aching muscles; she was a little bit flimsier than Alin and Elijah, not as strong, so the twenty mile walk was rough on her. "We need some sorta special powers so we can move faster."  
"Well, you ARE Ryuzoku, so you should be able to transform into a dragon and FLY! Oh, and you're also Mazoku, so you can just teleport. That's why daddy gave you the light-dark pendant, you know!" Chocolate was still perched on her gate post. She had long finished her cupcake, and had been entertaining herself by jumping around on the posts.  
"Daddy, what do you mean?"  
"Sore wa himitsu desu!" Chocolate continued to grin. "You'll find who you're looking for at the Clock Face. Bye!" She simply vanished.  
"Who are we looking for?" Alin mused. "Our enemy, or the Slayers?"  
"Don't know. This town doesn't seem to have a big clock, so the Clock Face must be a restaurant or something. Somehow, I don't think she likes us too much." Elijah stepped through the gates. "Come on!" The trio walked into the town.  
  
Lina looked over her plate at a trio of odd children sitting in a corner of the otherwise empty room. They hadn't ordered anything, simply sat there speaking in low voices. There was a girl dressed as Martina, another dressed as Filia, and a boy dressed as Zel. Lina frowned. "Filia, go check them out."  
"Why me?" Filia sighed, stirring her tea. Lina blanched, remembering Filia's extremely short temper when tea time was interrupted.  
"Okay, Zel, you do it!" At that point, the girl dressed as Filia scowled. Suddenly, she had a tail. She failed to notice, as she flicked the boy's hood off, revealing chimera characteristics. Scowling more, the girl began desperate attempts to put her tail into her skirt. Filia and Zel both approached the table.  
"Hi." Filia said.  
"Why didn't he tell me I had a ta- Oh, hi." The golden dragon blinked up at Filia in a confused way. "My name is Kinsei, who are you?"  
"Don't you recognize me?" Filia turned her head curiously.  
"No."  
"That's odd, even a highly alienated dragon should recognize a former Priestess."  
"I'm afraid you're my first contact with another Ryuzoku since I was three."  
"You're rather young, aren't you?" Filia frowned. "Only 200, I'd expect."  
"Actually, 16."  
"1600? Wow, you're older than me!"  
"No, 16. I'm sort of... not full Ryuzoku. I'm half Mazoku."  
"What?! What type of Ryuzoku would get into an affair like that?!" Filia cried, appearing angry. She was obviously faking it, as her tail hadn't materialized. She easily lifted Kinsei into the air. "Taboo! Taboo!"  
"Wow, Filia, quite impressive, throttling a baby Ryuzoku." Xelloss materialized behind Filia, smiling. In the meantime, Zelgadis and the chimera boy were staring at one another.  
"... You want coffee?"  
"... Sure."  
"... Name?"  
"... Alin... you?"  
"... Zelgadis... searching for a cure?"  
" ... sorta..." The two returned to Lina's table, talking in ellipses. Filia had entirely forgotten Kinsei, and was attempting to bash Xelloss with Mace-sama. Finally, Kinsei reached into the fight and grabbed the mace with impressive ease.  
"Stop! Why can't you be more like my parents?! They worked out their differences, just bury the hatchet!" Lina and Filia blinked in quiet surprise.  
"She doesn't look powerful or endurant, but she proves to be quite strong." Lina noted to herself. Amelia was ignoring the situation, and on a long rant about justice and Mace-sama with Gourry.  
Xelloss continued to smile. "I will if she will."  
"When have you been so willing to agree, Namagomi?!"  
Xelloss grinned, and extended his hand. "Friends now?"  
"NO!!" She whacked him with her mace. "Now, little taboo child, I'll show you how to properly make tea at any time!"  
"Just call me Kinsei."  
"Some things never change." Lina giggled as Filia bashed Xelloss once more.  
"Well, anyway, it seems you have upset our three young guests." Xelloss continued, in his oh-so-fruity voice.  
"Guests?" Amelia asked, curious.  
"Yes. I think it's only fair, Filia, that you keep an eye on the young one you enraged." Xelloss patted Kinsei on the head. "Oh, and Zelgadis has made a new friend? Wonderful! I don't think Zelly will mind watching him at all!" Zelgadis glared at Xelloss over the top of his coffee. "And this last one... hm..."  
At that very moment, Martina burst in.  
"LINA! I FINALLY FOUND YOU!" She squealed. "Oooh, who are your new friends?" Martina looked at Elijah. "Oh! A follower of Zoemlgustar!" She gestured wildly to the armor on Elijah's shoulder, which was the same armor Martina was wearing.  
Elijah blinked. "I wondered what the skull and feathers on my shoulder armor meant." she muttered to Kinsei in a low voice.  
"Tis an odd combination, but you've ranted about old Zoeml- whatshisface a few good times." Kinsei spared Elijah a Xelloss-like grin.  
"Perfect match." Xelloss smiled as widely as Kinsei was.  
"Have not." Meanwhile, Martina was babbling on about Zoemlgustar... in Elijah's face. Finally, Martina began to squeal about boys. Excited at the prospect of babbling about boys, Elijah joined her. "And gods, don't you just LOVE those swordsmen?!" The two continued talking spiritedly.  
Lina slowly surveyed the pandemonium that had unfolded before her. Alin and Zelgadis were sitting next to each other, speaking in low voices, and drinking coffee simultaneously. Filia was showing Kinsei how to make tea. Kinsei seemed as equally interested as Filia was. Elijah and Martina were both on a rant about Zoemlgustar. Chocolate had joined them, and she and Xelloss were both trying to steal Amelia's food. Lina narrowed her eyes. "Xelloss, explain this."  
"Sore wa himitsu desu, Lina!" Xelloss and Chocolate both cried simultaneously.  
"Miss Lina." Alin looked up from his coffee. "Guys, help me." He nodded to Kinsei and Elijah.  
"Right... We're actually looking for someone." Elijah started.  
"She's a little shorter than me, and she has bright red hair, and diamond-blue eyes. She wears her hair loose most of the time, and she's kind of pale. She's a ditz on occasion, but she can be a hardass too. Oh, and she has small boobs, really small." Gourry looked like he wanted to say something, but refrained at a glare from Lina. "Have you seen her?" Kinsei finished.  
"Y'see, it's his-" Elijah gestured to Alin- "girlfriend. She... vanished... a while ago." Elijah lied. "And we're kinda desperate to find her."  
Lina narrowed her eyes again, deep in thought. "I haven't seen her."  
"But we'd be willing to look!" Amelia giggled. "We're sorta bored wandering anyway, it'll be fun!"  
"How much are you three gonna pay us?"  
"That's another thing; we're all broke." Elijah lied again; in reality, she had a wallet with about 1000 yen in it tucked in a pocket in her cape. Was yen worth anything in this world?  
"Hnnnnnn..."  
"Lina... for justice's sake, they're kids."  
"What're ya talkin' about, kids?! Amelia, that one's probably as old as you!" Lina gestured to Elijah. "And the other two aren't far behind!" She pointed at a sorrowful looking Alin and Kinsei. The trio looked at each other in a depressed way; if Lina had her way, they would never find Rei.  
"But Miss Lina... In the name of justice, I'LL pay you to help them." Amelia gave Lina a practiced puppy-dog look.  
"Oh, FINE... We'll help them for FREE. Ugh... I hate that word." The trio instantly brightened up. "Sore wa justice ja nai, Amelia." Amelia giggled.  
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Kinsei jumped up and down eagerly.  
"But you're not gonna be extra luggage. Oh no, you three are gonna work as hard as us at everything we do." Lina glared at Alin, Kinsei, and Elijah. They shrugged.  
"We didn't wanna be pampered anyway." Alin folded his arms.  
"We intended on learning from your greatness, Miss Inverse." Elijah laughed mockingly. "No, really. We want to be adventurers..."  
"Just like our parents were."  
"Where are your parents, anyway?" Gourry asked, saying something almost intelligent. The trio looked at each other in rapid thought. Like mindreaders, they all answered at once... with something different.  
"Dead." Elijah stated.  
"Missing." Kinsei sighed.  
"Insane."Alin replied.  
Lina frowned. "Which is it?"  
They looked at each other again. "My parents are dead." Elijah finally sighed. Time to tell a few big lies and truths, she was thinking, as she slowly contested, "Kinsei's... well, her mother vanished, and her father sort of abandoned her." Xelloss looked briefly hurt. "Alin's mother is dead as well, and his father is undeniably insane." Alin's eyes quickly flashed to Zelgadis, and back onto Lina.  
"Oh." Lina sighed. "Story of life these days. Well, we'll see what we can't do." The trio went back to eating. "I still don't think they're trustworthy, Gourry." She murmured to her male friend. Blankly, Gourry stroked her hair. "I mean, they seem friendly, but there's just something... fishy about them."  
"I dunno... they're definitely weird, but they seem trustworthy. Just three kids with a rough reality." Gourry smiled cheerfully.  
"Yeah..." Lina trailed off, and continued eating.  
  
To Be Continued  
  
Xiao: While Nayru giggles delightedly at finishing a third chapter without any further encouragement, why don't you all review this so she has more encouragement?  
  
Ran-Ran: Reviews make authoresses write faster! 


	4. Where Once Was Light

SLAYERS: WARPED  
  
Chapter 3: Where Once Was Light  
  
Nayru: Okay, fan service here. A reviewer gave me a lot of ideas for what to put in this chapter. I left a few holes and mistakes here and there, so I'm just going to fix them. Thank you!  
  
"Where once was light, now darkness falls, where once was love, love is no more..." Dawn was coming through the windows of the abandoned house. Abandoned, except for Rei and Zelgadis. She stared from dulled eyes at the coming sun. The past three days had been living hell for her. Zelgadis had completely changed from when Amelia was alive, but Rei didn't know this. Rei had been sparsely fed, and when Zelgadis came to speak to her, it was more to yell at her and hit her. Silently, she wondered exactly what she had done wrong. She was scared, more scared than she'd ever been in her entire lifetime. She continued to sing mournfully, desperate for the sleep song could bring. "These tears we cry are falling rain, for all the lies you told us, the hurt, the blame, and you will weep to be so alone, we are lost, we can never go home..." The door banged open. Zelgadis stood before her.  
"Wake up, wench. It's time you learned to defend yourself." He growled angrily, untying the ropes around her wrists. He slapped her once. "And quit that damn singing." He tossed a set of tunic and slacks, both faded red, to her. She shoved them on. They were too loose on her, hand-me- downs, most likely. "If you inherited any of your mother's powers, I reckon you'll at least have some good magic in you. Some that won't kill the innocent. You'll learn that today." He glared at her. She didn't look up. She knew she'd crumble under his gaze. He dragged her out the second she tied her boots into a different room.  
Zelgadis gave Rei a dulled sword at arm's length. Zelgadis faced her and drew his sharp, tempered sword. "Simply parry me backwards, use the thrusting I taught you yesterday." He glared at her around his weapon. "Unless you can't do something that simple." Rei sighed deeply, and walked towards him, sword in the defense position. Zelgadis quickly caught her sword with his fully sharpened one, and quickly knocked her to the ground, pointing the sword at her. He marked an X on her bare arm with the tip of his sword. "You're dead. Get up and try again." Rei stood again, and rushed towards him, parrying back. Zelgadis was taken by surprise at her outburst of anger, and she knocked him into the wall. Smirking cleverly, she scratched an X into his arm.  
"Now who's dead?" Zelgadis knocked her off her feet, and stormed into a different room to get more equipment to teach/attack Rei with.  
  
The roads were rough, but there was no rain, so conditions were favorable. Xelloss had taught Kinsei a nice trick; how to use the light- dark pendant to switch control of her Ryuzoku/Mazoku sides. He'd taught her how she can control her Ryuzoku side, and how to tap into her Mazoku powers. She could fly as a dragon, and float as a human, but couldn't do any other magic. Her current preference was the dark side of herself, and she was happily floating above the rest. Alin and Elijah were peeved that they couldn't fly, and silently hoped there was a way they could fly too. Chocolate was floating beside Kinsei, harrassing her.  
"Onee-sama, onee-sama, hara-hetta yo! I wanna candy bar! So hungry! We've been living on fish for two days, wai, wai!" Kinsei pushed Chocolate away, irritated with her already.  
"We certainly are a weird group." Lina looked back at the assembled. "We've got two princesses, two chimeras, some cross between a Ryuzoku and a Mazoku, a Mazoku, and three humans. Not to mention Gourry's 1/4th elf. I like the fan club, but do they have to cosplay as us all the time?" Lina sighed, as Martina smiled.  
"But it's so cute!" Martina looked around. "The littler of the Mazokus is right, I'm tired of fish."  
"Too bad." Lina growled.  
Just then, Alin pointed. "Look, a house!" There was a large, ruined house a few hundred yards off the path. It hadn't been occupied for years. "Maybe we should stop there for today."  
"No, not there." Lina shook her head. "It's only evening. We can travel a few more hours yet! There's a forest ahead." Just then, a huge explosion was heard from the house. "Plus, it sounds like it's going to fall." The group ran. They didn't want to get caught in the obviously imminent explosion. Zel looked back briefly, frowning.  
"I wonder..." After a moment of thought, he shrugged, and caught up with the rest.  
  
Zelgadis glared at Rei through his scorched hair. Rei simply giggled. "Ah-ha... fireball?" She laughed. Zelgadis had been charbroiled just a few seconds ago.  
"That's NOT funny."  
"Then why am I laughing?!" Rei rolled on the ground, laughing.  
"YOU IDIOT! YOU JUST CAUSED AN EXPLOSION! YOU COULD HAVE ATTRACTED ATTENTION!" Zelgadis breathed heavily. "Luckily, this road is rarely travelled." He cracked her across the head. "Now do it again, and AIM this time." Rei stood up, her humor leaving her. She stared at the target he'd set up, and blasted it with every spell Zelgadis had taught her. Fireball, dark claw, blast bomb, burst flare, flare arrow, demona crystal, vice freeze, aero bomb, right down to a visfarank. He'd taught her almost every basic shamanist and dark spell, forcing her to memorize them. Her arm was covered with the Xs, and there were a few thumps on her chest. "Perfect." Rei's blue eyes glowed with tears; the target was made to look like herself. "Do it again." He set up a fresh target, and she did it again. Over and over, until she dropped in a dead faint from loss of energy.  
  
Late in the evening, the Slayers stopped to make camp. Alin, Elijah, and Kinsei stepped aside.  
"Why are we doing this?" Alin growled the second they were out of earshot. "It seemed to make good sense earlier, but now I look in retrospect, this all seems like BULLSHIT! How does this work?! How did Rei suddenly start speaking another voice, why didn't anyone seem to care that I had freaking BLUE skin, why weren't we locked up YEARS ago if ANYONE knew ANYTHING about this- You two, do you have ANY memory of what that purple haired guy was chattering about? Some fire, some bullshit like that?"  
"Alin, we're as clueless as you are. I don't know why we accepted, we were practically kidnapped. That guy, the one who claims to be my father, he got us worked up about finding Rei, and since she's our friend, naturally we got into it, but now what have we gotten ourselves into?" Kinsei snorted.  
"Instinct." Elijah replied calmly. "He mentioned, that guy, you know, he mentioned our parents. The one thing we've lacked. Every child longs for a parent figure. And so you know, I do believe him. There's not much there, but I do recall this much: there was fire. I remember the screams. After that, it's all in the orphanage where we grew up. The chance that my home burned in a fire is always there, but it seems strange that whoever that freak is looking for had parents that died in a fire too."  
"I don't believe this bullshit. Not a bit. As far as we know, Rei is back in our homeworld, that asswipe that grabbed her just had a few special effects and took her off somewhere else. Or maybe she WANTED to get away and set this all up."  
"Admit it, Alin. In your stoicness, you're a lot like Zelgadis, and in your obsession with right and wrong, you're like Amelia-"  
"Yeah, so explain his irritability, Elijah. Explain his overemotionalness, explain the rest of him off-"  
"Children aren't clones of their parents." Elijah snarled. "Besides, I don't see any of either of your parents in you, with the exception of the skills Xelloss taught you and your love of tea," she simpered mockingly.  
"At least I'm not boy-obsessed!" The trio broke into loud arguement, none of them knew what they were saying or what anyone else was saying. Finally, they stared.  
"This is pointless."Alin sighed. "Let's straighten this out: This is all bullshit. I don't believe a word of it. I want to leave as soon as possible. I want to go home. I don't want to save this world, or any world."  
"Fine." Elijah sighed. "As soon as we find a way home, we'll take it. We're probably asleep, dreaming, because, well, magic doesn't exist. Not in the real world at least."  
"I don't know." Kinsei sighed. "I think we should stay. What if... what if magic is real, what if we've got some talent, skills to develop, something?"  
"I don't know, but we don't have time to develop them. Take it as it comes, we're talking to Xelloss later. I want to wake up from this nightmare."  
A strange, soothing, ethereal voice from nowhere spoke into the teenagers: "If you're asleep, then slap yourselves. You'll wake up, won't you?"  
"Who's there?!" Kinsei yelped. There was no answer. Nobody was there to answer.  
  
"Why are we doing this?" Lina snarled to the others. She nodded at the trio, who were obviously arguing. "I mean, we see an obvious fanclub of us, we instinctively think it's cool. But we just accept them, no questions asked. They're weird, either they're advanced cosplayers, in mimicking parts of us, or just plain freaks. I'm not sure we should trust them easily."  
"When the time is right, we'll learn more about them. Ask no questions, hear no lies." Zelgadis shrugged. "We should have asked them more, it seemed strange that they had similarities to us..."  
"I think they're trustworthy." Gourry shrugged.  
"Gourry, you're an idiot."  
  
"Why am I doing this?" Xelloss sighed to himself from his perch high above. "I mean, Zelas made a good point in saying that the world would be miserable if what's coming to pass comes to pass, but why am I even cooperating? Why did I set up that mask that made Alin's skin look normal to anyone but those four? Why did a future of myself save them?"  
"I don't know, father. Perhaps it's the human emotion they call love." Chocolate grinned. "Love is both a positive and negative emotion."  
"Huh. So that's why tricking people hasn't been so much fun recently. Maybe it explains why I'm taking everything seriously, do I love these people?" Xelloss and Chocolate stared at each other for a minute...  
"NAH!" They laughed simultaneously.  
  
The next morning, the trio approached Xelloss. He stared up at them.  
"I know what you want to ask- and I don't know why you should trust me myself. In fact, I'm the last person anyone would ever be able to trust. But... I know this much." He smiled slowly. "I AM on your side for now. I also know this: to release the part of your parents' souls that inhabits each of you-"  
"That explains it!" Alin cried, slamming one fist into his other palm. "Part of Lina is in Rei, so she was speaking through her!"  
"Yes, precisely." Xelloss smiled proudly. "But in order to release those parts of their souls, you need to be here. The Slayers could easily do this without you. We need to release those pieces to properly straighten the timefield. And in addition to that, when I brought the pieces within you close to their masters, they created an intersoul bond... one that can't be broken... "  
"We're stuck here, aren't we?!" Elijah yelled.  
"As a matter of fact-" Xelloss paused to grin nastily. "You are, in effect, unable to be separated by a great distance from your parents in this era without tearing your souls from the places they sit in your heart." The trio stared at Xelloss, horrified. Elijah was the first to recover from the shock.  
"YOU KNEW, YOU GODDAMN /KNEW/ ABOUT THIS, DIDN'T YOU?!" Xelloss nodded, still grinning. "WHY YOU-" Elijah swung a fist at Xelloss. He caught it easily.  
"Tsk tsk." Xelloss blasted her back by her fist. Kinsei and Alin ran to Elijah's side. "Very simple spell, but I would expect you not to know how to block it. After all, I have conveniently not taught you any magic, aside from Kinsei's ability to float and turn into a dragon. Oh, and even though you can effectively switch between light and dark, you have no spells to use for either of them. Sad thing that you can't ask the Slayers for help. They'd wonder why you weren't taught before. Then they'd get curious about you, and try to learn the secrets they need not know. You'll find Lina a convincing interrogator, I believe." Xelloss continued to smirk cruelly. The trio shivered nervously. "It's for your own good. If I were to teach you any magic, our enemy would track you down by the pieces of soul emanating power within you. Until the enemy finds you on their own, you can't learn any magic."  
"Oi! Fankids! Breakfast!" Lina yelled from the fire. The trio stared at Xelloss. Finally, Kinsei nudged the other two away from Xelloss. She turned to him.  
"Father..." She whispered, beggingly. "Please... Don't hurt us any more than we hurt already." She walked away. Xelloss continued to smile.  
"You must understand; no pain, no gain. For now, you must suffer. Soon enough, you will gain all you seek." Kinsei thought about this, and walked away. Xelloss started laughing. All of this seemed ludicrous to him. He looked the the instructions Zelas had given him.  
"What bull... don't let them use magic until they find you, don't let the Slayers find out about them until they need to, HAHA! Why am I doing this? Why do I even listen to her?" Xelloss rolled on the ground, tickled pink by his own anger and frustration.  
  
"You lot don't look like you slept easy." Alin remarked, as he looked around at the five adults. They were all messy, tired looking, and slightly bruised.  
"We didn't." Lina yawned. "A gang of wandering thugs tried to raid us in the middle of the night."  
"What're wandering thugs?" Kinsei asked instinctively.  
"How can you not know?" Lina rose an eyebrow.  
"I didn't grow up around here." She babbled.  
"I see." She gave the trio a quizzical look. "Well, there's a town about ten miles away from here. I hope you all are ready to hustle, because I wanna be there by dinner time." She handed them each a plate of fried fish and some tough venison. "We're out of supplies."  
"Thank you, Lina." They all bowed, simultaneously. Alin, Kinsei, and Elijah looked around. Lina joined Amelia, Zel, and Filia in a deep conversation. Gourry was sitting alone. They sat around him. Gourry blinked, and smiled.  
"Hi guys!" He chirped, only too cheerfully for someone with blood in his hair.  
"Hi." They all mumbled.  
"Ya know, you three look familiar somehow... I can't place how." He continued to smile. He divided his fish into three piles, and gave each teen a pile. "I hate the stuff, so you can take it." He whispered, still smiling. "You guys gotta eat." The trio looked at each other. Finally, Alin and Elijah nodded at Kinsei.  
"Here, take this." Kinsei gave Gourry her venison. "It's too tough for me." She smiled politely at him.  
"I like you three." He chomped down half the venison piece. "Those four... they don't trust you." He continued to smile. "I trust you, though, but watch what you say around them." Gourry paused thoughtfully, as he chewed. He swallowed, finishing. "They don't call me a scholar, but I know this much." The trio politely nodded.  
"Thank you." Elijah whispered.  
"You three ready? Let's go!"  
  
TO BE CONTINUED... 


	5. C'est Moi Seul Baise

SLAYERS: WARPED  
  
Nayru: (cough) ... I should probably continue this now.  
  
Chapter 4: C'est Moi Seul Baise  
  
Rei jitterishly held herself straight. She was trying to remain calm. Her hair had been tied into a high bun, and she was dressed in a skimpy waitress' outfit. The bar she was in was scruffy-looking, the type of place ruffians and bandits would dine. The food was cheap and bad, and the place was dirty. It wasn't the type of place she'd imagined her mother-figure dining. Older-Zelgadis was watching her every move from the back of the restaurant they had "borrowed". He was holding the workers hostage.  
"They will be here in a minute." Zelgadis murmured. Rei nodded. "You will serve them, and I will see to it that Gourry and Lina's relationship starts to unravel."  
"Why are you making me do this...?" Rei whispered weakly.  
"So you can watch your own undoing." He replied nonchalantly. At that second, the Slayers gang entered- with three people Rei knew very well.  
  
"This is not the type of place I'd see anyone related to Rei eating." Alin confided to Elijah.  
"Rei with perfect manners and fine tastes? I couldn't see her eating anywhere I've seen here!"  
"What are you two chattering about?" Zel grumbled brashly.  
"Nothing!" They both squeaked.  
"This is my favorite restaurant in town! I'm glad it's still open." Lina sighed wearily.  
Kinsei rolled her eyes. "I'm just glad we're going to sit for a meal. I'm starving."  
"You're not starving until you're keeled over with hunger." Filia snorted rather coldly.  
"Are we just going to hang in the doorway?" Amelia whined.  
"No." Zel opened the door for Amelia. The group entered in a mass. A short female with red hair was standing at the hostess' podium, staring into space. She had the nervous look of a fawn surrounded by hunters with lights shining into her eyes. Alin stepped to the front of the group, right next to Lina.  
"Hey kid, can we get a greeting or something?" The hostess continued to stare into space, her eyes drifting across the gathered.  
"Excuse me, miss." Alin calmly pressed a hand under her ear. She looked directly at him, snapping out of his.  
"J'liketableboothhowmanyinparty-"  
"Please, miss, space bar and punctuations." Alin interrupted politely. He realized the odd stare he was recieving from Lina and the others. "Erm, I mean-"  
"Sorry. I meant, how many in your party and would like like a table or a booth?"  
"There are- one two three... Xel and Chocolate disappeared again, great- eight of us, right?" She turned to Alin.  
"You five, us three." He nodded.  
"Eight. We'd like a table, preferably in a corner." The girl nodded.  
"This way please." She led them to a table set for ten in a corner, and gave them each menus. As soon as she vanished into the back room, Kinsei and Elijah burst out laughing, and Alin blushed furiously, his skin going from blue to purple.  
"You did the Rei thing with that waitress!" Kinsei laughed.  
"She looks a lot like Rei, and I figured that everyone has that behind-the-ear pressure point..."  
"Rei, his girlfriend?" Amelia asked, blinking.  
"How forgetful are you, Amelia? Rei's who we're looking for!" Filia exclaimed.  
"Oh yeah. You say the waitress looks like her?" Amelia frowned in thought.  
"Spitting image, I swear it!" Alin nodded vigorously.  
"I dunno. Rei wouldn't ever dress like that."  
"And what a dress it was! Even for such a small-built girl, wow!" Gourry shouted. "I could see her pretty blue panties." He smiled cheerfully. Lina thwapped him.  
  
"Calm yourself, Rei..." Rei whispered to herself. "You must remain calm... this is just your first time ever seeing your birth parents... which ones did he say were mine?!" Rei peered out at the Slayers again. "Lina... and... the blonde one... Gourry... wow, he looks so happy! And Lina... my mom... why is she so not-happy...? Mom should be happy... And there's Alin, he doesn't look so happy either."  
"Rei, there's a group at the door." Older-Zelgadis growled. "Stop fantasizing about relationships you can never have and do as you're told." He shoved her out.  
A gang of rowdy bandits stormed past the queue, and went straight to the bar.  
"Food! Food! Service! Now!" They all chanted. She ran behind the bar.  
  
"I'm sorry, we're shorthanded tonight!" She cried frightenedly. "Please, what do you want?"  
"Well, well..." The leader smirked nastily. "First of all, I want you!" He grabbed her hand.  
"Todd, I don't think that's a whore." One of the lesser bandits stated.  
"She looks enough like one for me." He grabbed her face, trying to force a kiss to her lips. She pushed him off before his lips could meet hers, and quickly ran to the Slayers' table.  
"Are you ok?" Gourry asked, patting her hand gently.  
"F-fine." Rei stuttered. "I'm rather new on the job, not accustomed to it... but... erm... may I take your orders?"  
"Can I order your name?" Alin asked quickly. Everyone stared at him. "Erm... I mean... what's your name?"  
"Uhm... ah..." Rei blinked.  
"HEY! YOU!" The bandit's leader called. He stormed up to the group. Lina scowled, pushing Rei a little behind Filia.  
"Leave the kid alone. She's no whore."  
"It's okay, kid-" Filia whispered to Rei.  
"You hand her over, or this is gonna get bloody!" The bandit growled.  
"We won't let you get hurt-"  
"You want blood? How about flames? How about unimaginable pain?!" Lina stood up, her short fuse nearing its end.  
"After all-"  
"Bring it on, girly!" The bandit taunted.  
"Lina is an expert in bandit massacre!" Filia finished.  
"Go Lina!" Rei cried eagerly.  
"That's right!" Lina winked at Rei. With a simple swipe of her sword, the bandit leader's head was laying on Kinsei's appetizer plate- to Kinsei's horror and Elijah's fascination.  
"Awesome!" Elijah picked up the head, and made it sing a little song for the other bandits, who were staring in disbelief. "I'm a stupid bandit, assaulting waitresses and stealing all you've got! Lina Inverse is the greatest bandit killer, she'll put you in your graves to rot!" This enraged the bandits, causing them to leap at the table. "Oh, shit." Zelgadis pushed Kinsei, Elijah, and Alin under the table, and Filia swiped them all back with her mace.  
"Take these." Zel whispered, giving Elijah and Kinsei daggers and Alin a beaten sword. "Defend yourself, that alone."  
"Hikari O!" Gourry cried, making the Sword of Light appear from his sword's hilt. Rei gasped in wonder, still hidden behind Filia.  
"Hey, can I see that?" She gasped, tapping his arm.  
"Oh, sure!" He smiled cheerfully, putting the Sword of Light into her hand. Around them, Zelgadis was holding off two bandits, Filia was bashing at three, and Amelia was mumbling white magic, holding another four outside the battle. Lina slashed the arms off a bandit, and thwapped Gourry  
"Gourry, you MORON!" Rei swung the sword a little. She noticed Older Zelgadis staring directly at her in anger. She smirked nastily, feeling strange liberation.  
"Alin!" She called out, still staring at Zelgadis. "I'll tell you my name!"  
"DON'T YOU-"  
"It's me, Alin! Rei!" Alin jumped out from under the table, grabbing her hand.  
"DAMN YOU!" Zelgadis roared.  
"Here is what I have learned!" Rei cried, slashing out in the way she'd been taught, quickly disabling, dismembering, and disarming each bandit. They glared at her. Lina, Gourry, and Older Zelgadis stared in shock.  
"I've taught you too well, girl!" Zelgadis growled angrily. Lina and Filia finished off the bandits. Rei turned to Alin, and clutched both of his hands.  
"Alin, get me away from him..." Lina and Filia put up their weapons, blocking Older Zelgadis' advance to Rei.  
"Give me that girl." He growled, pushing Lina out of the way.  
"Rei, I- " He shivered. "I can't lose you." He pressed his lips against hers, encompassing her within their first kiss. As she pulled back from him, Zel grabbed her.  
"END YOUR FOOLISHNESS!" He screamed, shoving Alin into a wall. He pressed in on Rei's temples, instantly knocking her out.  
"Unhand her!" Alin cried, trying to push Zelgadis off. Lina, Gourry, Amelia, Filia, Zel, Kinsei, and Elijah watched as Alin tried to shove Zelgadis back. Zelgadis shoved Alin back.  
"Touch me, and the girl dies." He whispered angrily, stomping away. Alin shuddered, and fell to his knees, crying.  
"Rei... Rei..."  
"Amelia, go release the other employees. Undoubtedly, they're tied up in the back." Zel instructed her. She nodded. "Filia, reset the tables." Filia began to set the tables right.  
"Why would he train that girl to swordfight? And how could she do that in the space of two weeks?" Lina wondered quietly.  
"She was swinging rather wildly, most of her hits were pure luck." Zel responded quietly. "Alin, stop crying and get up."  
"That... that was my girlfriend... he's going to kill her... that Zelgadis is going to kill her!" He sobbed. Kinsei and Elijah gasped. The Slayers all turned around.  
"That man's name... was Zelgadis?" Zel whispered in disbelief.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED... 


	6. Slave For The Dragon

SLAYERS: WARPED

Nayru: My, my... I haven't updated in so long!

Xiao: Do it now! Do it NOW!

Nayru: Yes... update time!

Chapter 5: Slave For The Dragon

"L-sama, such a sad day..." Amelia sighed sadly. The moment the restaurant had been cleaned up, they'd rushed out, half-dragging a distraught Alin and not speaking to either Kinsei or Elijah. They'd put the children in an adjoining room in the inn, and locked themselves in their room. Zelgadis was glaring at the wall, dead-eyed, Lina was in a corner, thinking concentratedly, Gourry was sitting by the door to the teenagers' room, Filia was in a chair in the corner, sipping anxiously at a cup of tea, and Amelia was staring out the window, as it was starting to rain. Alin's sobbing picked up, like a great wind had come, and the entire group heard him heave it out, as Elijah and Kinsei mumbled what could have been consoling words, but were too indistinct through the wall. The sobs died down after a minute, and the entire group heard;

"See, Alin, the little puppet likes you! Look, Alin, puppet!" Chocolate sounded as chipper as always. Alin's sobbing picked up again.

"We should be in there with him, I think." Gourry mumbled, sounding flustered.

"Gourry, you /never/ think." Lina snarled snidely. The rest of the group turned to look at her, slightly shocked. "There's something funny with those brats, I know it! That girl had something about her, this weird air, I just gotta wonder about her. And since someone named Zelgadis kidnapped her"

"He LOOKED like me, Lina." Zel interrupted. "That was what I looked like before the transformation. If some alter ego of me kidnapped that cosplay boy's girlfriend, I bet he's got a damn good reason why!" Zel's voice had taken a harsh tone, and as he rose, the others could see his body tense up. "I want to speak to one of them."

"Which one" Lina quickly retorted. Zel pursed his lips, thinking.

"Kinsei looks pretty fragile. Let's go with her. She'll break fastest."

"Oh, no, Zelgadis!" Amelia cried, frightened. Her wail was ultimately ignored.

"Let's do it." Filia sighed, obviously objecting in tone, but not wanting to argue.

Far away, Xelloss was busily scanning the ground from thirty feet overhead to look for any signs of Rei or Zelgadis. He noticed a trail, one dragged, one of large footprints. The drag trail was obviously dabbled in congealing blood. He frowned, and flew faster. The drag became footprints, smaller, and finally led him to a large field of rocks, with two people standing in front of it. Xelloss hovered a safe ten feet above them and five feet behind them, close enough to hear, but far enough to run away. Rei was breathing heavily, and it seemed Zelgadis was allowing her to catch her breath, until...

THWAP! Rei crumpled to the ground, as his fist hit the side of her face.

"You ruined my plan, you idiot. Congratulations, they know who you are. They don't know where we are, so I don't have to punish you yet." He pulled her up by her shoulders. "But, you did prove yourself by sword. Therefore, I'll teach you a spell that I will need you to use eventually..." He smirked. "You are going to help me destroy Belen."

"Belen" Xelloss whispered to himself, making a mental note.

"Wh-why...? What's in Be... Bel..." Xelloss could hear suppressed sobs under Rei's stuttering.

"Belen, you hellion. Within its walls lives a midwife, and in a few years, this midwife will move her practice to Sailune, and develop into a fertility clinic for the childless. Without that clinic, you would never have existed." Zelgadis smirked. Rei's eyes widened, and she whimpered, staring at her feet. "Hence, without the midwife..."

"... Don't make me do this." She looked up at him with teary eyes. He hit her again, but this time, she didn't flinch.

"Do as I say." He took a sheet of paper from nowhere, and scrawled something on it. "Read this to yourself, but not out loud." He instructed her calmly, his voice even, sounding eeriely more like a teacher than a madman. "Memorize it. Then, meditate all your power to your center..." Xelloss felt something quake within his heart, as Rei closed her eyes.

"What is this power..." Xelloss whispered to himself. "L-Lina's soul is in her..." He gasped, suddenly remembering, and then jumped, realizing what she was about to do. "No, no..."

"Say the spell." Zelgadis instructed her coolly. Rei's voice suddenly took an eerie, deep tone, as she began to intone;

"Darkness beyond twilight... "

"No, Rei, no..." Xelloss whispered. At this point, Zelgadis turned around, smirking evilly.

"Crimson beyond blood that flows..." Rei continued to chant.

"Don't let her do this, Zelgadis..." Xelloss urged. Zelgadis shook his head nastily.

"Buried in the stream of time is where your power flows..."

"You know what damage it will do to her..." Xelloss growled, backing away further.

"I pledge myself to conquer..."

"REI! STOP IT!" Xelloss called.

"All the foes who stand..."

"STOP IT, YOU'LL KILL YOURSELF!"

"Before the might power..."

"You're taking the soul that isn't yours..."

"Bestowed in my unworthy hands..."

"Xelloss, there's nothing you can do now." Zelgadis finally chuckled. "She's the Dragon's slave now."

"DRAGON SLAVE!"

Amelia jumped, as thunder struck far away. Bright light shone from nearly ten miles away. "Wow..." She whispered. She turned around, to try and speak to the others, but they were too deep in conversation about what to ask Kinsei when the opportunity rose.

TO BE CONTINUED... (maybe later tonight, I dunno.)


	7. This Poor, Broken Baby

SLAYERS: WARPED

Nayru: I think I should make one thing clear... I am a sixteen-year-old girl. I started writing this when I was but thirteen. I'm already up to chapter 25 on actual paper, and even though I change each chapter when I type it, it gets the point across. Needless to say, I feel like I am terribly behind on typing and posting. However, I am also swamped in schoolwork, and shorter works (hinthint for Kingdom Hearts yaoi fans: Read "Awaken", damn you!), as well as a much larger project that I'd prefer not to disclose details about. Let's just say it involves falcons, and a group of evil Catholic bishops. Now, despite falling asleep on the floor of my room and not being able to wake up and type up another chapter, I am awake at... eight in the morning... typing you people chapter six. Oh, and Mwafwa; thanks for your support, and good luck on your ACTs!

Chapter 6: This Poor, Broken Baby

"Please, be kind to Alin this morning." Kinsei stuttered to the Slayers, as she peered through the adjoining door in the inn. "He's still completely wiped from last night. I don't think I've ever seen a boy cry for two hours before, and dry-sob the rest of the night..." She pondered to herself, as she wandered in slowly. The second she was fully in the door, it locked behind her, clicking audibly. Kinsei jumped at the tiny click, looking at the door, then back at the adults. "M-may I bring him his breakfast, or do you need me for something, Miss Lina..." Her eyes flashed to the woman she identified as 'Mother', but Filia gave no consoling gaze, preferring to stare into a corner of the wall. Lina and Zel had risen, and she felt Gourry- and she could tell by his clumsy grip- grab her forearms tight. She could feel his hands shaking. "Oh g-gods!" She gasped, as she realized that Zelgadis' face was less than an inch from her nose.

"Well, how do you like betrayal? Thought you could come in here and get our sympathies, only to find anger? Everything was fine before YOU showed up, you and your punkass friends! How do you like it, punk!" His voice was rising, angrily, his eyes wild. Lina pushed him away from her.

"Gourry, sit her down." She felt Gourry push her into a chair, and tie her wrists behind her back. "Zel, go to the corner. That's now how we interrogate our little guests." Kinsei's heart sunk like a stone at the word 'interrogate'.

"Wh-what do you want to know about us?" She gasped, realizing that it was the wrong thing to say. 'Us' would automatically translate to 'my friends and I', while they were only asking her.

"It seems you already know." Lina smirked coldly. "Now, since we will be travelling directly after this, we've decided on a few prizes. Amelia's got a lie detector in her head, and for every truth you tell, you'll get a prize. Let's give her a taste." Lina nodded to Amelia, who immediately centered her mind and focused. "Kinsei, how old are you?" Kinsei breathed heavily a few times, closing her eyes and concentrating, before finally mumbling;

"Sixteen, four months, six days, nine hours, and... seven minutes." The entire group blinked curiously. Amelia opened an eye.

"True." Amelia stated calmly.

"Well, give her a prize." Lina snorted, and took something out of her pocket, putting it on Kinsei's lap.

"M-my shoelaces!" Kinsei gasped, identifying the leather strands Lina had given her.

"Very much so." Lina cackled. "I'll bet you want your shoes too, but maybe we should take a little break and read the newspaper." She held up a newspaper, which read on the headlines; 'Mysterious Sorcerer Destroys Field Of Falling Stones In Mysterious Blast'. Underneath of it was a picture of a crater-like dent in the ground. Lina began to read; "'Patrolmen were astonished to find that a historic battlefield, where catapult rocks laid to rest, had been completely annihilated. By the mere vibe in the air, each guard could sense terrible black magic had been done. The spell used was identified as the Dragon Slave, by magic residue, and immediately traced to Lina Inverse, who was at an inn ten miles away. Lina was awake at the time the patrolmen reached her, at about four in the morning, and the owners of the inn, all of her companions, and travellers who'd said they'd been on the road right before the explosion had an alibi for her; She had been in the room, she had not left it since they'd arrived twelve hours before, she had not even been on that path, and she hadn't even used the spell. Officials are now worried that another sorceror has learned the spell, and will use it for the wrong reasons...'" Lina put down the paper, and sighed grumpily. "As you can imagine, it was a nightmare for all those guards to come bursting in here... Now, it's awfully suspicious that you kids each bear resemblance to one of us, particularly that little girl comparing to me... Next prize is your shoes. Quetion is; is there any reason you are dressed like us, or is it all coincidence?" Kinsei looked at her shoes, which Zel was holding up.

"We were given these clothes, so we'd fit in amongst travellers. We'd never even seen you all or heard of you all before that!" Kinsei protested.

"False." Amelia sighed.

"Well, we heard of you when we're being given the clothes!" Kinsei whined, correcting herself. Zel grudgingly tossed her the shoes.

"The next prize is your breakfast." Kinsei gasped, as Lina held up a pot. "The others have already eaten, this is yours. I don't know how far you'll make it without something to eat, you can barely make it anywhere on foot as it is. However, answer this untruthfully, and we make you a puppet until one of your friends answers." Kinsei whimpered, fully scared. "The question is; why are you children here, so far from home, so young and naive? What has brought you to us? Who is that Zelgadis, what interest does he take in your friend? Who are you?"

"Not a day goes by, I don't wonder the same thing." Kinsei finally groaned.

"True." Amelia giggled.

"Answer the question!" Lina growled, grabbing Kinsei's slender shoulders, squeezing them roughly. "ANSWER ME!" At that second, Xelloss burst in.

"Stop the interrogation! I've found Zelgadis!" Xelloss was dirty, sprayed in dust and dirt, wide-eyed and not smiling. "Come quickly!" The Slayers rushed out, and Amelia ran to wake up the teenagers. Gourry stayed, cutting Kinsei's ropes, and Xelloss began lacing her boots with unbelievable celerity.

"Poor thing." Gourry sympathized gently, and handed her the breakfast pot. Kinsei began to shovel it down. "Look, I won't be angry at you, no matter what you answer, nor will I know if you're true or false, I won't even tell the others, but I want to know... is that Zelgadis related in any way to our Zelgadis?" Kinsei paused, with her mouth full. She swallowed heavily.

"Yes... he is." She answered quietly. "Don't tell them, they can't know yet"

"I won't tell a soul. You can trust me." Gourry smiled. "Got any more juicy secrets"

"... Well, for one, you're just like your daughter." Kinsei chuckled. Xelloss looked up, looked at Gourry, at Kinsei, then nodded approvingly to Kinsei. She giggled softly, and kissed him on the nose. Gourry blushed.

"Well, you certainly aren't my daughter." He grinned. "I don't have one." Gourry put on his boots, and left. Kinsei blinked, confused.

"You must forgive Gourry." Xelloss informed Kinsei casually. "He's an idiot."

Far away, older Zelgadis held a limp Rei in his arms. Her body was bruised and drained, nearly dead. He hadn't bothered to notice that the chain pendant around her neck was gone, as he'd been to intent to run. "Tsk, tsk, such a tiny girl performing such a big spell. Next time you try it, it'll probably kill you..."

The Slayers studied the blood trails as they rode on Filia's back towards the crater. Xelloss flew along beside them, dipping low to the blood and showing it to them urgingly.

"She was bleeding heavily..." Elijah whispered nervously. Alin was staring at the ground wide-eyed.

"Rei..." He mouthed. Kinsei rubbed his shoulder consolingly. Filia landed about six yards from the pit, and the entire group dismounted her to study the rubble.

"Zelgadis was here..." Xelloss pointed at it. Lina scowled, surveying it.

"So, was he now?" She glared right at Kinsei. She continued to survey the destruction. Gourry wandered around the pit, before stopping by a rock near the center of the field, and lifting it up with ease.

"Hey, lookit this!" He called, holding up a pendant on a broken chain. The pendant was rectangular, silver, with a small diamond set in the center. Lina rushed towards him, grabbing it, and showing it to the rest of the group.

"Who can identify this?" She asked, her voice cold and biting. Alin looked up at it. His lower lip trembled, and he burst out sobbing.

"Oh, REI!" He wailed. Lina rose an eyebrow, then turned to Elijah.

"It's Rei's." Elijah sighed softly. "He'd had it since he was in the orphanage with us, and he gave it to her as a gift when they started going out."

"Funny." Zelgadis cut in, his voice louder than usual. "I have the exact same pendant, and it's one-of-a-kind." He pulled a chain out from under his shirt. Lina scowled. None of them noticed Xelloss vanished.

"Now, what are the chances..."

"Oh, very slim, Lina." The group whirled around, to see a tall, pale-skinned man, dressed entirely in black, with bright red hair that stuck out in all directions. "Forgive my intrusion... I'm Atsui. Artist..." He held his hands forward, palms to the sky, and flame burst forth from them, creating two high columns of fire. "Of flame." He approached them evenly as the columns vanished, and all three children felt the hair on the backs of their necks rise. Elijah dropped to the ground.

"The tingle..."

"If you look at these pendants, they are very similar... " He snatched Zelgadis' pendant off his neck, breaking the chain, and held both up next to each other. "Certainly, the one Alin identifies as Rei's is dirtier... but that is because it was in the dust... Well, once they are clean, you will need some method of telling them apart." He held up Zelgadis's pendant, and, shooting a thin line of fire from his finger, traced an "A" on the back of it. "Now, it's obvious which one is which. No A on Rei's pendant." Zelgadis snatched his pendant back, while Lina took Rei's.

"Hey, there is an A on this one!" Lina shouted. Lina and Zel held the pendants next to each other.

"Exact same penmanship... exact same style... same letter." Zelgadis' eyes flared.

"Oh, they are. Same letter, same pendant..." Atsui chuckled, as he wandered away. As soon as he was out of earshot, Zelgadis whirled on the children.

"I want answers NOW!" He screamed, pulling a sword, and rushing towards the children.

TO BE CONTINUED... (god, aren't I a bitch?)


	8. Ocean Breathing Salty

Slayers: Warped:

Well, I've got tea, sugar, and nothing better to do. Chapter 7 time!

Chapter 7: Ocean Breathing Salty

"LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Gourry shouted, pulling his sword and knocking Zelgadis back with enough force to topple into Lina and Amelia, pushing them back ten feet on their backs, groaning. His eyes wide, he watched as the trio groaned to catch their breath, the wind knocked out of them from the blow. He panted heavily, sweating nervously, his eyes darted between Kinsei and Lina.

"Gourry, what are you doing?" Lina growled, as she pulled herself to her feet.

"I know... I know..." Gourry mumbled. Kinsei gasped.

"You promised!" She whispered, her voice cracking.

"It's time they knew." The group looked around, to see Xelloss with a sleeping Chocolate tossed over his shoulder. He paced towards Zelgadis evenly, laughing to nobody in particular, "Such a shame! Those caustic thoughts you've had... What a waste of your mind, even when the answers were right in front of you." Suddenly, he stopped, whirling back towards the teenagers. "Look at them, they're just kids. Little kids."

"I resent that. I'm eighteen!" Elijah cut in.

"You might resent it, but you resemble it." Xelloss snickered. He turned back to Lina. "Do you really need to know who they are?"

"I think that'd be best." Lina grumbled, deadpan. Xelloss thought for a moment, tapping his chin in thought.

"Well, it is a surprise... how very little mother is like daughter." He giggled girlishly. "You're not a thing like her."

Lina's eyes went wide. "... Whaaaaaaat!" She gasped, looking back at Xelloss. "What do you MEAN!"

"I mean that you're going to be a mother. To a little girl." Lina instantly looked at Kinsei. "Wrong one." Lina blinked. "You'll name her Rei, because she's a part of your soul. She'll be the youngest of the children, but for this one." He explained, patting Chocolate on the butt. "This is my own daughter. Oh, and Filia; I'd stop making cracks about Mazoku. You're going to marry one."

"WHAT!" Filia shrieked indignantly. Her eyes flew to Kinsei, who laughed nervously and waved. Filia sputtered angrily to herself, as Kinsei shuffled her feet and stared at the ground.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way." Kinsei mumbled shyly.

"Let's just add in that Martina already knows she's going to have a daughter in a couple years." Xelloss added, gesturing loosely to Elijah.

"How did she take it...?" Elijah asked curiously.

"Surprisingly well. She was eager to meet her 'blessing from Zoelmgustar', or however it's said." Xelloss laughed. "She even believed me when I said you were from the future. Your dad will be much harder to explain to, however."

"Hm..." Elijah snorted nervously.

"Zelgadis, with all that's been said, I don't think I even have to explain Alin off." Xelloss chuckled. "You give your son your pendant as a present... and he eventually gives it to his girlfriend." Not surprisingly, Zelgadis scowled.

"How could I pass my curse on... particularly, to such a weakling...?" Zelgadis growled. Alin scowled, and spoke the first sentient words he'd said in the past eighteen hours. Unfortunately, they were the wrong ones.

"Who are you calling weak? You're the fucknut who goes crazy when his beloved little wifey dies, then goes on a rampage, kidnaps and tortures an innocent girl, and led her to THIS!" The entire group froze in motion. Alin covered his mouth, realizing how wrong what he just said was. Zelgadis began to twitch in anger. He finally turned away from the entire group.

"Xelloss, get them out of here. I don't believe a word you've said." He whispered, his quiet, strained voice hiding an eternity of sheer rage. Filia turned away as well.

"It can't be... It can't be..." She whispered, obviously choking back tears. Amelia sadly shook her head and looked away.

"Mister Zelgadis wouldn't ever do something like that." She murmured, looking at Lina, who'd simply been staring at the ground the entire time pensively. There was a moment of tense silence. Nobody had a word to say, and right before it reached the pinnacle, the boiling point where tensions explode, Xelloss grabbed all three teenagers around the shoulders.

"We'll be going, then." He dragged them away roughly. Alin and Kinsei stared at their father's and mother's, respectively, backs. Tears were forming in Kinsei's eyes, and Alin was shaking like a leaf. Elijah pulled out of Xelloss' grasp, and began to drag Kinsei herself. "There's a safe place near here. We just have to walk on." He mumbled encouragingly, almost speaking to himself rather than them. Gourry suddenly ran after them.

"Take me with you." He begged Xelloss. "I know there must be something I can do."

"There is!" Xelloss grinned at Gourry. He put Chocolate on Gourry's shoulders. Gourry nodded, and carried her. Alin began to walk on his own, as they came over the crest of the hill, onto a long, empty road.

"Mr. Gourry, you really are like your daughter." Alin mumbled, grinning lightly at him.

"Well, I'm not so lucky. My daughter's not here, so I guess that I pretty much live in the future, and she's okay. Do you know her? Is she beautiful?" Gourry asked, grinning eagerly.

"I know her well..." Alin whispered, having no intention of ruining Rei's chances with Gourry's affection by saying her name. "And she is beautiful..."

Zelgadis was quivering in rage, and Filia was shaking in fright. Lina still stared at the ground. Amelia nervously patted Zel on the arm.

"I... Well, judging by Alin, his girlish face and all, I bet your wife was beautiful." Zel looked at her, his eyes going from anger to nervous.

"... How could I do anything like what that Zelgadis has done...?" He whispered, voice shaking.

"I don't... I couldn't... I can't!" Filia cried to herself.

"You do, though." Gourry muttered.

"We all do." Lina sighed, pulling herself to her feet and dusting off her pants.

"What are you going to do, Miss Lina?" Amelia asked her anxiously.

"I'm going to go save my daughter. You all can tag along and help your children do whatever they've come here to do; because if you remember the first day we met them, they all said that their parents were dead, missing, or insane. I don't think they were lying." Lina explained, and began to walk off in the same direction Xelloss had led the children. Filia frowned.

"I have no intention on going missing." Filia sighed, following Lina.

"And I have no intention on going insane." Zelgadis added, following Lina and Filia. Amelia followed suit.

They knew of each other's presence. Gourry, Xelloss, Alin, Kinsei, and Elijah knew that Lina was close behind them, far behind her, Filia, Zelgadis, and Amelia, but none of them wanted to talk to each other. There was complete silence, until finally, Filia dashed up to the group in front. Kinsei looked at her for a moment, before turning away. Filia sighed.

"You've got poor foot speed, and you're getting tired." She transformed into her dragon form, and lifted Kinsei onto her back gently. Kinsei hugged her around the neck, as Filia soared slowly over the group twenty feet off the ground.

"Thanks... mom..." Kinsei whispered.

Zelgadis and Amelia caught up with the group in front as well. Alin took a thermos off his belt, and offered it to Zelgadis. Zelgadis blinked.

"Our group always carries thermoses of our favorite drink, and Elijah filled mine up this morning." He muttered. Zelgadis took a sip.

"... Black coffee." Zel nodded approvingly, and from there, neither said a word. Lina caught up, joining the mass of silence. Still, for a few moments, there was a certain electricity emanating that drew them together, no matter how ridiculous it seemed. To Zelgadis and Filia, it felt right, and Alin and Kinsei, even in the cold silence that day, had never felt warmer.

TO BE CONTINUED...


End file.
